The Gunners had scouted the 24-year old Spanish forward and were hoping to add him to the signing of Lukas Podolski when they almost had a deal done with Montpellier for Giroud.

A source close to the deal told Goal.com that Wenger wanted desperately to get Adrian over the line and almost extinguished his interest in Giroud before signing him for £12million from the French champions.

"He tried to pull the plug on the Giroud deal to sign Lopez instead," the source said.

"But by then it was too late and the Giroud transfer had already been signed off."

It is also believed that Wenger will again try to lure Adrian to the Emirates Stadium in January but his buyout clause of £14.6million may test the French manager.